RICHMOND 17-25 ROSSLYN PARK

21/12/24

By RHYS STRATTON

The 1st XV handed Richmond their first loss of the season in a superb outing at The RAG to end the year.

It was a fast start for the 1st XV, despite playing into a noticeable headwind, and Harry Ledger powered over within 5-minutes following a clever kick in behind by Josh Bragman that had pinned Richmond back deep. Richmond got off the mark a few minutes later through the boot of Callum Grieve, before they then took the lead thanks to a dubious offside penalty that gave the hosts a lineout in the corner. The maul was stopped short, but the ref  deemed the collapse to be illegal and headed under the posts to whistle for a  penalty try.

The 1st XV responded well to going behind, and a fantastic break by Joe Luca Smith forced Richmond full-back Grieve into conceding a penalty which reduced the hosts to 14-men and allowed Bragman to level the scores from the tee. Then, with 10-miuntes to go in the half, an Arthur Ellis break following a Richmond knock-on sparked a superb counterattack that ended with Smith diving over out wide.

In the second half, the hosts nearly drew first blood from a maul deep in the Park 22 when a carrier broke away only to be held up over the line. The 1st XV, however, refused to let their first chance of the half go to waste just minutes later when they found themselves with a lineout just outside the Richmond 22. A brilliantly executed strike move from the set-piece sent James Cordy-Redden through a hole and in under the posts untouched to extend the lead to 12.

This lead was nearly extended when Sam Kennaugh hacked on a knock on by the hosts which Charlie Walker came within inches of reeling in. Thankfully, a Richmond soon after this gave Bragman another chance to add 3-points from tee, which he once again took. The hosts answered back with 15 to go thanks to a fantastic finish out wide by Lucas Schmid and continued to push for another, but a phenomenal defensive effort by the 1st XV saw Richmond frustrated at every turn. Penalties won at the scrum, huge hits that forced knock-ons, and jackal turnovers all helped to see out the match and secure another brilliant win over our close rivals.

ROSSLYN PARK 

Tries: Ledger (5’), Smith (30’), Cordy-Redden (49’)
Conversions: Bragman (6’, 50’)
Penalties: Bragman (22’, 59’)
Yellow Cards: Hosking (17’)

Team: Cade, Miller, Woodward, Cleet, Spencer, Ledger, Ellis, Hosking, Fenley, Bragman, Marfo, Kennaugh, Cordy-Redden, Walker, Smith

Replacements: Cameron, Charalambous, Gillanders, Mulchrone, James

RICHMOND

Tries: Penalty (17’), Schmid (64’)
Conversions: Grieve (65’)
Penalties: Grieve (10’)
Yellow Cards: Grieve (21’)

Team: Bevacqua, Goffey, Litchfield, Wakeling, Nugent, Benson, Schmid, Pim, Schwarz, Dennett, McMillan, Dardis, Langston, O’Meara, Grieve

Replacements: Torpey, Spring, Saysell, Wills, Jones

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Birmingham Moseley 27 – 10 Leicester Lions
Blackheath 39 – 32 Bishop’s Stortford
Plymouth Albion 31 – 3 Dings Crusaders
Rotherham Titans 29 – 14 Darlington Mowden Park
Sedgley Park 14 – 12 Sale FC
Rams 31 – 3 Esher

This week in National One saw Park emerge as the only away side to pick up a win. Rams swept aside Esher in Reading to keep the pressure on the league leaders whilst Rotherham’s victory over DMP keeps them within striking distance of 1st. Elsewhere, Moseley, Blackheath and Plymouth all allied bonus-point wins whilst Sedgley edged out  local rivals Sale in a low scoring affair up in Manchester.

Up Next for Park after the Christmas break is a home stand against Blackheath on the 11th.